“Eye of the Storm” explores the universal laws of chaos and order. In this work choreographer Rachid Ouramdane uses the movement of organized and anarchic groups. Ouramdane is inspired by parades, riots, demonstrations and flocks of flying birds. This is how the ever-changing paintings of order and chaos appear on stage. These images, and especially the moments of transition from one state to another, draw parallels with the processes of today’s society and resonate in the context of a pandemic world. On stage this dynamic of order and chaos creates a burst of energy, reminiscent of a kaleidoscope, and engages the viewer in an almost hypnotic state. As if you were watching the eye of a storm forming from clouds, thunder and rain.
Rachid Ouramdane has been making art projects since 1995. He has been an Associate Artist at the Theâtre de la ville in Paris, and at the Bonlieu Theater in Annecy, France. He is regularly invited to work on a variety of collaborations, such as the Lyon Opera Ballet (Superstars – 2006, All around – 2014); the Russian company Migrazia during a residence in Siberia for the Intradance project (Russia) (Borscheviks… a true story… – 2010); and for the 20th birthday of Candoco Dance Company (UK) with disabled dancers (Looking back – 2011).
Since Ouramdane founded L’A. dance company, his work is based on a meticulous collection of evidence, in collaboration with filmmakers or authors. Through the art of dance he aims to contribute to social debates through choreographic pieces that develop a poetics of testimony. Alongside his creative projects, Ouramdane is working to enhance the transmission and exchange through the management of international workshops for artistic research in France, Romania, Netherlands, Brazil, and the U.S. January 2016-March 2021, he co-directed the CCN2-Centre Chorégraphique National de Grenoble with Yoann Bourgeois. Since April 2021 he is the director of Chaillot – Théâtre national de la Danse.
This piece is another creation of the French-Lithuanian creative cooperation program KlaipėDAnse, which has been taking place since 2017.
